Hillary rallies women's support

On a recent Thursday night in Washington, as Hillary Rodham Clinton stood on stage, Geraldine Ferraro sat beside Madeleine Albright and Nancy Pelosi. It was a tribute to the victories of feminism -- the first woman to be speaker of the House shared jumbo shrimp and wine with the first female secretary of state. The only woman to be a serious contender for the presidency introduced the first female vice presidential nominee.

Clinton spoke of Ferraro as a bold congresswoman and emphasized her personal pride when Ferraro earned the Democratic nomination for vice president. But Clinton added that Ferraro had been "successful in doing the hardest job of all, raising a family."

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There is a decidedly post-feminist appeal occurring within the Clinton campaign. And it features a very different Clinton than the young feminist at Wellesley who campaigned to end curfews or the Clinton who commented during her husband's 1992 campaign that she was "not the kind of woman who stays at home baking cookies."

Today, Clinton titles a section of her website's biography "mother and advocate." Notably, she places motherhood at the fore. The head of Clinton's women's outreach, Ann Lewis, explains that Clinton appeals to women because she has "advocated for children and families for 35 years." Lewis adds that Clinton's platform calls for "universal pre-K" education, to exemplify her appeal to women, not merely mothers.

"If you ask who I am, I'll mention that I'm a mom. Women do that," says Ellen Moran, the executive director of EMILY's List. Moran's group, which advocates for female candidates who support abortion rights, has endorsed Clinton. "These candidates are talking about who they are," Moran emphasizes.

But male candidates talk far less about being a father on the stump. When Clinton announced her candidacy, she sat on a living room couch, rather than standing at a podium before the press. Her theme was "Let's chat," touting her campaign as a "conversation." She stumps as a "listener," rather than as a lecturer or coach like Rudy Giuliani. Rarely is she without a dozen sympathetic nods in town hall meetings. On the stump, Clinton campaigns as the practical Midwestern mother. "I was born into a middle-class family in the middle of the country," she often says, mentioning at times that she was a Girl Scout.

Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway argues that Clinton is attempting "to repair the relationship she damaged with America's stay-at-home moms and grandmas," many of whom felt she disapproved of their life choices. "It's a shrewd political maneuver," she adds, "in that it allows her to expand her reach in pockets of women who have never really liked her, at the same time not alienating her base of feminists."

Clinton's campaign has taken a cue from marketing to attract female voters. It's relying on so-called viral communication as much as traditional political advertising.

"Women are the most credible method to other women," Lewis says. "In a time when we are bombarded with commercials and advertising, people are even more interested to hear from people they know."